I, Ghost Blogger
Someone asked me the other day about ghost blogging. She wanted to know about what it was and how to get started in it. Here are my answers. Ghost blogging is like ghostwriting. While ghostwriting is writing where you get no credit or byline, ghost blogging is blogging where you get no credit or byline. It’s work for hire, just as any other ghostwriting job.
Where do you find ghost blogging jobs?
I find these in the same places that I find other ghostwriting jobs. I go to the Freelance Writing Gigs site as my first port of call. I also get updates from the Writer’s Bridge and from a number of other sites that offer blogging jobs, one of the best being Problogger’s job board (most of these are bylined jobs, but a few may not be). There’s also Craigslist, where you need to weed out the ones that are worth bothering with. Finally, I set up a Google Alert for ‘blogger wanted’ and see what it brings. This gives me a long list of jobs to choose from. Of course, because I am a ghostwriter, clients often ask me about writing blog posts for them, so I get a lot of work through referrals.
How do you prepare for ghost blogging?
The best preparation is to have a blog – or several blogs – of your own. This proves that you know how to blog. If you know the ins and outs of WordPress and other blogging systems, then that helps too. And you need to have some expertise in the topic that the client wants or be willing to learn.
I also find that guest blogging is good preparation, because it forces you to think about writing for other audiences, which you have to do when you ghost blog. I’ve blogged on a number of sites and these have helped me to further develop my blogging skills and to meet new readers. I also use these for my portfolio so that I have a range of published posts to show to potential clients.
How much does ghost blogging pay?
That’s a how long is a piece of string question. Pay rates range from a couple of cents a word to a respectable rate. Variables that affect the rate include:
- whether it is bundled with other writing services
- the client’s budget
- the ghost blogger’s experience
Some people only want short posts that take 10-15 minutes to write, so if they offer me $10, I might accept it. On the other hand, I would want more for a researched and well thought out post. My policy is to ask for what I want but to know what I’m prepared to accept. What I’m prepared to accept might depend on how busy I am and how the rate compares with the rates for other work.
Can you use your ghost blogging posts on your resume?
No, it’s work for hire. I tend to describe the gigs in general terms, like: ‘Here’s a list of topics I’ve blogged about.’ However, ghost blogging is confidential so I can’t put links to the posts in my resume.
Is it weird to blog for someone else?
I approach it like any other writing job, but it’s fun, because I don’t have to think too much about keywords and I do have to make it an enjoyable read. I love blogging, and ghost blogging gives me the chance to blog about topics that I might not blog about on my own blogs. As a born again blogger, this really appeals to me, and making money from it is the icing on the cake. If you want to make money from blogging, then this is certainly an option to consider.
Technorati Tags: blogging,ghostwriting,get paid to blog
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Get Paid To Write Online by Sharon Hurley Hall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Copyright for posts written by guest authors remains with them.Useful info
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I agree with you – I love blogging. I haven’t done a lot of ghost blogging lately, but it’s something that I enjoy doing. Thanks for giving me the inspiration to give it a try again!
It’s so much fun, Katherine; a bit of escapism – hope you manage to land some good blogging gigs.
This is excellent information, Sharon! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge on this topic. It’s much appreciated
Thank you so much for sharing your ghost blogging thoughts with us. I’d never considered ghost blogging before. I’m often so preoccupied with my byline that I forget to consider ghost writing opportunities. My bank balance thanks you, Sharon. From now on I’ll be on the prowl for any and all opportunities to get paid doing what we love.
I’m in the opposite situation, Rebecca. I miss bylines, but one of the great things about guest blogging (as opposed to ghost blogging) is getting the credit for my writing, so it could be that combining the two gives me the best of both worlds.
My firm provides ghost blogging services. When you blog do you sign off all your rights and “work for hire” or do you license your content for use on the blog.
What do you do in situations where the blog owner takes the content you have written for the blog and use it for web content, a press release, or for other marketing purposes?
Love to know what you do.
The ghost blogging work is generally work for hire, Nancy, so I sell my rights and clients can do what they want with it. In other places, my name is attached to the posts I write, so I would expect to get appropriate credit if they are used in books or in other places.
Thanks for the info. I do a lot of blogging/writing for pay myself and you can make a lot of money doing this.
Hi Wendy,
I am an IT professional who abandoned my creative impulses ten years ago and jumped into the latest, greatest, ‘stable’ profession.
I always enjoyed my writing assignments in school, especially in college during my communications and creative writing degree programs, and would love to find a way to get back into writing via ghost blogging, freelance copywriting, or whatever can get the juices flowing again.
Do you have suggestions, or sites to reference, in addition to the great info from Sharon above?
Thanks much,
Jerry